Praise God! He has answered our prayers and met our need for a vehicle by blessing the Outdoor Wisdom Leadership School with the donation of a smooth riding and strong running Mercury sedan. While certainly not the final replacement for "Black Beauty," our former workhorse Suburban, with the adaptation of a receiver hitch and some creative metalwork, OWLS now has a vehicle which will move our gear and pull our trailers down the highway to the trailheads and enable our staff to run shuttles and make it to various meetings and services.
Despite the limited resources experienced by almost all faith-based organizations at this time, we were still able to pull together one of our OWLS Spring Break Adventures; this one a repeat visit to Florida's Rookery Bay NWR and the 10,000 Islands planned for a group of UGA students and YoungLife Leaders living in Athens, GA. Weather was about as perfect as it ever could be and, although the birds seemed a bit scarce, the large number of very friendly porpoises more than made up for it. Our canoe-camping expedition took us from the boat ramp at Royal Palm Hammock, down the Blackwater River, past Shell Key and Tripod Key, beyond a number of smaller unnamed Mangrove islands, to our base camp on a white sandy peninsula forming a lagoon on Turtle Key. When relaxing, reading our Bibles, swimming, playing games, studying nature, and sharing personal reflections with each other became too much, we took daily paddles to visit places including Gullivan Key, White Horse Key, Panther Key, as well as a trip up the length of picturesque Fish Hawk Creek, around Gator Bay, and up an unmapped side creek where we spotted the fresh tracks of a rare Florida Panther. These impressive paw prints were so large that I could hardly cover each one with the 8-1/2" wide blade of my canoe paddle.
While the impressive, roughly two week, sellout of this summer's Paddle GA was a disappointment to the inner-city kids hoping to be able to earn a scholarship for it, I still have hopes that some of them will decide to do a more private OWLS Adventure, just for their group. Both participants' social skills and comfort levels in crowds are always greatly enhanced by immersing them into the 300+ participant Paddle GA event but their personal reflections, spoken communications, and spiritual growth are better strengthened in our smaller 12 - 20 person group trips. If your family or group of friends wants an unforgettable experience this summer, please get in touch with me right away to schedule your OWLS adventure.
Last but certainly not least is yet another blessing in disguise. While the economic crisis we are all experiencing has caused lots of belt tightening, it has also resulted in the availability of some prime real estate at very reduced pricing. Several foundation representatives have expressed their concern that the Outdoor Wisdom Leadership School has no land it can call her own: a place to regularly stage courses, conduct staff training, maintain a headquarters and permanent office. Furthermore, I have realized for some time that OWLS could make much better use of the limited funds we have available if we could have a stable location to store and repair our equipment, set up outdoor classroom settings, maintain campsites, and stage quality adventures for OWLS participants. The resulting economies of scale would allow us to serve roughly three times as many people with each dollar spent as we now do. The owner of a wonderful tract of land with both highway and river access has told me he is excited about helping OWLS move into just such a situation on his property. To make this happen we will need to demonstrate some more answered prayer in the form of a team comprised of, among others, a real estate attorney, real estate appraiser, non-profit experts, and a number of very generous monetary donors. If God is impressing you with a desire to help fulfill this mission in creating a place where youth and families can study creation and the parables revealed therein, grow closer to God and to each other, and learn both the importance and ease of sharing their faith in Christ with others, please let me hear from you today!
Thanks,
Ben
Email:
BenSimms@aol.com
